The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 807 This matter is of great importance, Shen Le, how about we form an expert group?
"So, this really is a map of Dukang?"

Shen Le nodded slightly, his face showing no surprise whatsoever. Professor Hu carefully observed his expression, and after a moment, let out a sigh of relief:

"It seems you have another way to confirm this—yes, you can see the memories of these artifacts, and there are some points of agreement with the records on the bamboo slips..."

Shen Le could only smile, smile, until his face was almost stiff. He could indeed see the memories of the artifacts, but the problem was, so far, it was only the section on the bamboo slips…

That section did not directly mention Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, nor did it mention events such as the Dukang map.

The only match is that the bamboo slips record a disciple of the Ghost Valley School named "Qin Wuyang," who was involved in Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin...

Therefore, it's not unreasonable that the people of the Ghost Valley Hidden Pulse collected his body, retrieved the broken dagger, and took back the Dukang map, which was no longer of much use.

He tried to clear his mind of these thoughts and asked Professor Hu his questions and requests:
"Here's the thing, I see it now... I don't know how to fix it, or rather, I don't know which parts should be fixed and which parts shouldn't be fixed..."

Professor Hu listened to his narration as if it were gibberish, especially the part about "the afterimage of the dagger lingering on the silk." After a long while, he sighed.

"I can give you the general principles. However, everyone has their own expertise, so in this situation, it's best to find an expert—wait a minute, I'll call someone for you..."

He made his Nth call to call for more people—this period of working with Shen Le was probably the time he made the most calls to call for more people.

About half an hour later, Professor Li, who specializes in fabric repair, rushed over after finishing a class:
"It's confirmed to be the Dukang map? Confirmed?! This... Xiao Shen, this artifact is of very high quality. Why don't we report it to our superiors and organize a special task force to carry out the restoration work?"

Shen Le: "..."

"Well, teacher, why don't you watch a few videos first, and then we'll talk about it..."

Fifteen minutes later, Professor Li, specializing in fabric repair, let out a long sigh. The tempered glass of the safe, which had been carefully placed there, had suddenly shattered.

The pure steel dagger was placed on the broken dagger and instantly cut into steel pellets.

One by one, the gold-plated slabs, laid flat on the ground, would suddenly float up—or at least float up slightly…

Each video tells everyone that these things are not something just anyone can master.

Or rather, if someone with sufficient skills doesn't take the plunge, the hands will most likely be cut to pieces, so badly that they can't even be stitched back together...

"Teacher, it's not that I don't want to accept guidance from the special task force; I'd love for a group of the best professors in the country to mentor me!" Shen Le said sincerely.
"But the problem now is that I'm in a hurry—don't ask me why I'm in a hurry, I'm afraid you'll lose your sense of right and wrong if you know too much, anyway I really am in a hurry;
On the other hand, my method of repair is quite different from the traditional method, because I'm afraid the teachers' blood pressure will rise if they see it..."

I already figured it out. Professor Li, for the sake of his image, barely managed to suppress his eye-roll:

Who repairs ironware by forging a new piece, placing it on top of the old broken one, and then respectfully asking, "Does this suit your taste?"

That said, if this method had been used to restore the Cangzhou Iron Lion back then, and if the Cangzhou Iron Lion could truly answer—

Good news, the Iron Lion should be alright, or at least not in worse condition;

The bad news is that those experts who took action will probably get trampled by the iron lion, lose three or four legs, five or six arms, or even get bitten a few times...

"...So you're not planning to display these artifacts in a museum?"

He couldn't help but ask. Shen Le's face immediately fell:

"I'd like to, but it depends on their willingness! If they don't want to be exhibited, I can just put them in a museum..."

Guess what will happen with these exhibits, or at least what happens with that broken dagger; how many people will die?

Or maybe after we've finished everything, we can just make a replica to fool the audience, since they won't be able to tell the difference anyway...

Professor Li sighed deeply and finally accepted Shen Le's request to "hurry up".

After all, he knew better than anyone how the experts worked: for such an important cultural relic, just setting up an expert group required seven or eight rounds of back-and-forth negotiations, with everyone fighting tooth and nail for the opportunity.
Then, every repair method and detail had to be studied, discussed, and discussed repeatedly.

Finalizing all the repair methods would take a year and a half, that's the starting price. And if any special circumstances arise, we'll have to get together for meetings again...

"Alright, I'll take a look for you." He rubbed his temples, opened his notebook, and began writing quickly:

"Your current problem is that you can't determine which areas can be cleaned, which can't be cleaned, which areas need to be repaired, and which areas don't need to be repaired..."

Shen Le nodded vigorously. He could answer any question about the principles of cultural relic restoration: authenticity, minimal intervention, reversibility, and priority of rescue.

However, when it came to each individual artifact, especially such complex artifacts with numerous traces, he became unsure and had to ask his teacher for help.

There's no way around it; we simply lack experience. Unlike the teachers at the school, who have hundreds or even thousands of artifacts in their hands, they just let them pass by like water.

When it comes to making a decision, there's no need to start from principles and deduce step by step; intuition alone can make an accurate judgment...

"The principle of authenticity means preserving all the historical information carried by cultural relics and maintaining their original state and characteristics."

"Come on, let's take a look at the marks on this silk scroll, or rather, this map. Which ones belong to 'historical information' and should be preserved?"

The professor gave a surprise quiz in class, and Shen Le immediately racked his brains, trying his best to think of something:

"First, the terrain recorded on the map, including mountains, rivers, cities, and all the written markings, must be preserved. Second, the traces of the dagger being rolled up inside are also very important."

Professor Li smiled and nodded. The true nature of the dagger is revealed at the end of the picture; if we could preserve the traces of the dagger within the picture, that would be ideal.

"and then?"

"Then, if we can preserve this map, it will become a trace of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin..."

Shen Le spoke more and more fluently:

“Therefore, the dust, bloodstains, and trampling marks on it, if they appeared during that assassination, should not only not be cleaned up, but should be preserved!” Professor Li’s smile widened, and he nodded more deeply. Shen Le smiled back at him, paused, and then hesitated:
"However, there are some traces that I can't confirm whether they appeared during the assassination, or were left during long-term storage after it was retrieved, or perhaps..."

Professor Li listened patiently to his troubles. This is a common problem faced by cultural relic restorers, and he is very experienced in this area.

Now, when instructing Shen Le, he didn't stumble at all:

"First of all, there are things that are harmful to cultural relics, such as mold. These must be removed no matter what, and we cannot let them exist."

Secondly, the traces left during long-term storage, along with the original traces of the artifact, are all part of the artifact's history! We cannot discriminate against them!
Finally, you can use some methods to observe them, such as judging whether they were applied first or later based on the depth of these marks penetrating into the fabric texture…

Should we look at this one by one?

Shen Le's face quickly fell.

A silk piece from 4700 BC has 48 warp threads and 48 weft threads per square centimeter;
The plain silk robe from Mawangdui has 280 warp and weft threads per square centimeter...

He'd have to delve into every single texture to see the dust particles inside—how long would that take?
"If you want to achieve perfection, then this is the only way." Professor Li spread his hands:
"If you don't want to be perfect, just put the map in water and rinse it lightly to wash away some of the imperfections—"

The outer layers are usually washed on last, while the inner layers are washed on first. Don't wash them too clean; just take them out and let them air dry in the shade. That should basically meet your requirements!

Shen Le: "..."

"Okay, okay... Also, I need to leave the fold marks and the marks where the dagger was rolled up inside. How should I do that?"

Professor Li frowned immediately. To be honest, he had never encountered this problem before.

Generally speaking, the fabrics he restores, whether they are clothes, shoes, socks, flags, or scrolls, are all flat pieces.

Yes, even clothes are flat; they are not required to appear as if "someone once wore them"...

"Well... you can first flatten it out, carefully scan it, and record its original marks. After cleaning and repairing it, use gentle ironing to reshape it?"

Professor Li speculated, not entirely certain:
"If you're worried about not having enough stock, you can start by using similar types of silk, or even order a batch of silk to practice with! We have long-term cooperative manufacturers!"

If you need to specify plain weave, specify plain weave; if you need to specify twill weave, specify twill weave; specify the exact number of warp and weft threads per square centimeter.

They even have sophisticated methods to salvage silk that has been stored for a long time and is already very fragile...

Having learned a great deal from his experience, Shen Le plunged into the laboratory, rolled up his sleeves, and began repairing the equipment.

Professor Li was left pacing back and forth in the outer room of the laboratory, occasionally craning his neck and standing on tiptoe to look at the screen:

"Be gentle! Be gentle! -- Yes, that's it. First, use the instruments, scan them one by one. The instruments can tell you a lot..."

The different sources of dust, the molecular structure of blood, and the cells left by human hands can all be swept away…

Of course, that requires using different instruments to record different fluctuations and then performing very detailed analysis.

Professor Li had already mentally identified several students who were particularly meticulous and skilled in this area of ​​analysis, and whom he could bring along to work on projects...

The scanning speed of the instrument is neither slow nor fast.

Professor Li stood and stood in the laboratory until his back ached and his legs were weak. He had no choice but to accept the kindness of the faceless, bodyless Luoqun and sit on the chair they pushed towards him.

I stood until the end of the workday, then had to rush home. Luckily, I didn't have class the next day, so I rushed back to work. But what I saw made me want to pound my chest in despair:
"How did you get here! You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"

Shen Le, of course, didn't sleep; his current mental energy didn't require sleep. Professor Li glanced at the scan results, breathed a sigh of relief, and began quickly writing out plans to hand over to his students.

He looked up halfway through writing:
"Hey, why are you standing still again? Go and examine each thread one by one!"

Shen Le... Shen Le no longer needed to see with his eyes. He sat cross-legged in front of the Dukang map, closed his eyes, and only extended his spiritual power, gently covering the entire map.

It's not about stroking each of the latitude and longitude lines, nor about delving into the grid of latitude and longitude lines to touch each and every speck of dust that has already seeped into it.

Instead, it is to use spiritual power to see—no, this is no longer just "seeing," but to "listen" to the original sound of this scroll of silk:

Resonate with it, resonate with every part of it, understand how every mark on it was created, and when it was left...

The spiritual energy flowed like mercury, enveloping the entire piece of silk and gently infusing it with spirituality and vitality.

In Shen Le's perception, what first "awakens" is the oldest and most fundamental echo of the silk itself:
That is the rustling sound of silkworms spinning silk, the rhythmic clatter of the loom, and the life imprint left by the silk threads as they intertwine.

This imprint, peaceful yet resilient, formed the original foundation of this map and has remained indelible to this day.

It has absorbed all the moisture, it has become fragile, but its strength remains, encompassing everything else...

Just as Shen Le's senses were calming down in this peaceful and inclusive power, he was suddenly swept up in a grand echo.

Thick ink and bright red cinnabar left deep, heavy marks on the silk, seeping into its very fabric.
Within this vermilion ink, Shen Le could even "read" deep sorrow, intense helplessness, and a veiled despair:
Is this map not from the Yan Palace's old collection, but rather a completely new one drawn specifically for this operation?

Immediately afterwards, a completely different "voice" joined in, and as soon as it appeared, it delivered a fatal blow to Shen Le:

coming!

It is coming!
That sharp, cold, and unstoppable aura of metal—it's here!
Alongside the metallic aura, there was also a deep, restrained woody quality that concealed and concealed the dagger's murderous intent.
There was also a chilling, bone-chilling, almost soul-freezing, fishy-sweet scent—the poison etched onto the dagger—it was that dagger!

Even if it was only wrapped in silk for a short time, or even just coexisted with the map for a day or a night, its power would still greatly influence the map and even change its essence.

From this day forward, for a thousand years, this map, this dagger, this person, and this event will remain intertwined, until the last person forgets this history!

(End of this chapter)